Revelations 12: 7-12 recounts a war in heaven, but is it part of the tribulation or not? Is it a future war or a past war? This devotion looks at why the war was fought to determine where it falls on the timeline.
Nuggets
- The underlying cause of the war is Satan’s desire to defeat God and rule all that God has made.
- Satan goes in to tempting us thinking he will probably lose.
- We should never, ever discount Satan’s anger, but we must always remember that Jesus won.
Devotions in the What I Believe series
Devotions in the End Times category
End Times Churchy Words Focus
We’ve been talking about the tribulation. We’ve said that it can be broken into the first half, middle, and second half.
In the last devotion, we looked at how the tribulation begins. I was planning to do the middle and the end in this devotion. Now, I am going to have to break the middle in two separate devotions.
Let's Put It into Context
According to Compelling Truth, the tribulation “… is the period during the end times wherein God judges Israel and the world for their unrighteousness and prepares to establish Jesus as the King of the world.”
Resource
The tribulation will last for seven years. It can be divided into two halves with a identifiable middle in between.
A Heavenly War
“Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer” (Rev. 12: 7-8 CSB)
Part of my problem is my confusion on Revelation 12: 7-13. Is this when Satan was kicked out of heaven? Or is it a future battle?
Past or future — the underlying cause of the war is Satan’s desire to defeat God and rule all that God has made. It all boils down to, as Hatch has said, good is fighting evil.
But look what Melvill said. He wrote, “The battle is between those angels which have never swerved from allegiance to God, and mighty spirits that ‘kept not their first estate.’”
We know Satan and the demons that followed him when he rebelled were cast out of heaven. “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1: 6 KJV emphasis added).
These demons have not. “Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him” (Rev. 12: 7-9 CSB emphasis added).
Any longer, to me, says they had been residing in heaven. Satan is not residing in heaven now, so this really can’t be a future battle.
So, what is it doing in Revelation except confusing my wee mind?
John documented that Michael is going to be leading the angel army. We know that Michael is an archangel (Jude 1: 9).
However, Milligan argued that this is really Jesus leading the army. He pointed out that Michael means “Who is like God?” Jesus is like God. We aren’t told angels were made in the image of God, but we know there are some similar characteristics.
Another argument is Daniel prophesied that Michael would be the defender of the church. “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book” (Dan. 12: 1 ESV). Is that not what Jesus is?
Banishment
“So the great dragon was thrown out — the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him” (Rev. 12: 9 CSB)
Oh, man. Didn’t Satan realize he was fighting a losing battle? There was no way he was going to defeat the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Oh, great! Now we have to deal with Satan since he was banished to the earth.
Was God just setting us up for failure? He knew since before He even created us that we would sin.
I mean, Satan is a master sinner. “The one who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works” (I Jn. 3: 8 CSB). How can we withstand his manipulations?
But look at the point that Clemence made. He wrote, “His attempts are often failures.” Satan goes in to tempting us thinking he will probably lose.
He goes in anyway.
And we think we are going to withstand sin on our own? Not going to happen. We have a foe that is not only delusional, but Satan also never gives up.
But is Satan goes in thinking he will lose, what is that really telling us?
Satan thinks we are stronger than we think?
We are stronger than we think?
Satan knows that God is going to support us enough that we can withstand him?
Satan really is delusional in what he is trying to get us to do?
So then, why do we hook up with Satan?
Spurgeon believed that there was a reason Satan was called a dragon. It was a hint as to “… his mysterious power and character.” That mystery doesn’t make him any less real.
The characteristics that Satan has that led him to be called a dragon is his cunning and ferocity. That coupled with his patience makes him a formidable foe.
Victory in Jesus
“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows his time is short” (Rev. 12: 10-12 CSB)
We should never, ever discount Satan’s anger. He didn’t take kindly to being banished. He is going to take it out on us.
Satan became the “… accuser of our brothers and sisters …” (Rev. 12: 10 CSB). Roberts wrote, “The accuser, in this instance, is the enemy of our souls.” He is accusing us, trying to get us to feel guilty and unworthy.
But we must always remember that Jesus has now come — He’s won! We are worthy when He has cleansed us from our sins.
Look at verse 11 says. “They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death” (Rev. 12: 11 CSB).
It was Jesus’ blood that atoned for our sins. It wasn’t his birth. It wasn’t that He died — if He would have died but not shed His blood, the sacrifice would not have been made. It wasn’t even His resurrection. It was that His blood was shed to pay the penalty for our sins.
Let’s roost on the testimony a second. Vaughan wrote, “The blood of the Lamb is his motive, but the Word of His testimony is his direction. Without this he might be well-intentioned, but he would neither know his enemy nor know how to cope with him. They overcame him, therefore, because of the Word of which they were witnesses.”
In Elaine-speak, I would say that Jesus shed His blood for us — but that doesn’t do us any good until we accept the gift of salvation. If we never ABCD, it doesn’t matter to us is Jesus was the sacrifice for our sins or not. We are still sinners if we don’t believe and confess.
We wouldn’t know Satan was our enemy — because he wouldn’t be. We would be under Satan’s control.
We have a testimony because the blood of the Lamb was spilt and we accepted the gift of salvation. I have told you before that, when I was going through my spiritual tornado, I would say every time I felt Satan tempting me, “I am not going to deny God.” That was the word of my testimony.
But look at that last bit. “… for they did not love their lives to the point of death” (Rev. 12: 11 CSB).
Some love God until He asks us to give up our jobs. Or until He takes Dad through a heart attack. Or until the relationship falls apart.
Or until I don’t get my way.
But this says Satan was defeated by Jesus’ blood, testimony, and willingness to suffer death. We have to be totally committed to God. Totally.
Making the Connections
I love what Congreve said. When talking about the war in heaven, he wrote, “Looking at these words from a Christian’s point of view, we are reminded by them that whatever else was meant by the war in heaven of which they speak, they, at least, mean for us that the powers of evil have done their utmost to overcome Christ and the powers of good, and have failed — that Christ has proved good to be stronger than evil, and light than darkness. And the high hope is raised that He has done this for the whole universe, for the spirits in every other world-if such there be — as well as for the spirits of us poor men struggling with evil in this. That He has done it for us, is what His gospel tells us.”
- Evil tried.
- Evil failed.
- Jesus did this for us.
Satan thought he had much to gain. Instead, he lost much.
It is Satan’s goal to make us think we have much to gain and nothing to lose. If we punch our ticket on his train, we will lose exactly what he did — God’s favor and a place in heaven.
Look at it from Melvill’s perspective. The battle was a battle of principle — who was going to have the say as to how things were run? Some angels got fed up with how God was running things, so they tried to convince other angels to switch allegiance.
We may think temptation looks appealing, but it really isn’t. Once sin’s true nature is seen, it is a shock to our systems. Temptation was pictured here as a pitched battle. All things associated with a battle would be in the mix:
- Death
- Wounds
- Pain
- Fright
- Thirst
- Hunger
- Unrelenting
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
It might be hard for non-believers to wrap their heads around spiritual warfare. They may have trouble believing in God and even more trouble believing in Satan. We have to consider what we are going to tell them to convince them there is both.
We’ve been looking at defending our beliefs when we are witnessing. That means we have to be secure enough to convince someone to accept our beliefs.
Our questions should still serve us to determine on what we need to focus.
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
Congreve made a good point as to why the angels were able to defeat evil — and many times we aren’t. It isn’t because the angels are so much stronger than us or different than us in that they can withstand evil. Angels are obedient and humble. Period.
We can be obedient. That is a choice we make. Are we going to follow God’s law and commandments, or are we going to give in to evil?
Spurgeon made an eye-opening comment. He wrote, “No door can shut him out, no height of piety can rise beyond his reach. He meets us in all our weaknesses, and assails us from every point of the compass. He comes upon us unawares, and gives us wounds which are not easily healed. But yet, powerful as this infernal spirit certainly must be, his power is defeated when we are resolved never to be at peace with him.”
We cannot stop Satan from tempting us. Even when we diligently seek God and grow our relationships as we should, Satan is going to be right there to tempt us.
So, what do we do?
ABCD
Praise God, even in the trials
Put on the armor of God and prepare for the fights.
Remind Satan he has already been vanquished.
Share our testimony to any and all who will listen.
Be willing to sacrifice whatever God asks us to sacrifice.
To read devotions in the Armor of God series, click the appropriate button below.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Father. We claim the blood of Jesus for our salvation. We give our testimony for all You have done for us. We vow to serve You, even unto death. Amen.
What do you think?
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